Obamacare Leads to Cut Hours for Co-Workers of Dem Rep Who Voted Against Repeal

Representative Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) voted against H.R. 45 in May, helping to defeat an attempt to repeal Obamacare. Arizona State University, where Sinema has worked as an adjunct professor, has now cut employee hours because of Obamacare.

In January 2015, ASU has to supply healthcare coverage to employees who work 30 hours or more per week. Starting this fall, non-tenured associate faculty members will only teach two courses that add up to six credit hours. ASU media spokeswoman Sharon Keeler said this will help the university distinguish between full-time and part-time employees and is a required “baseline monitoring period.”

“One way ASU is responding to the Affordable Care Act is by becoming more consistent in its use of job titles for fixed-term faculty members and academic associates,” Keeler said.

Keeler said 90 percent of the instructors are full-time employees, but the other 10 percent are not happy about this development.

“It’s like getting a punch in the stomach. For some people it’s a major financial setback,” said Mariam Cohen, a Scottsdale psychiatrist who teaches religious studies at ASU.